Author archive for Rachel Santos

In 1965, it was called “reapportionment” and some members of the Indiana Senate Democrat Caucus were not shy to express their self-interest. I was there. As a legislative intern, I was assigned to the reapportionment committee of The Indiana Senate chaired by David Rogers of Bloomington. My job was to carry proposed maps from University computer-types to the committee, its […]

The “average person” rails against negative campaigning. The “average person” campaigns negatively. Example: On behalf of candidate John Fencl for Washington Township (Indianapolis) school board, two “average person” neighbors distributed a flyer two days prior to the election. The first half supported Mr. Fencl saying he is a quality person and a school parent. With that information and endorsement by […]

Retired Supreme Court Justice, David Souter discusses the importance of democracy and civic literacy. Souter stressed the importance of civic knowledge in order to sustain a true democracy. Watch here!

Link to full research Democratic Personality In my forthcoming book, Personality and Political Attitudes: Civic Capacity and the Challenges of Democratic Politics (to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2017), I examine the influence that the Big Five personality traits (Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability) have on the ability to understand political issues and party behavior. […]

Last week I had the chance to visit Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis to register young voters. This experience reminded me of the importance of knowing the voting process and how to register. Here are ten things you should know about voting in Indiana: Indiana voter eligibility: be a US citizen, live at an Indiana address by October 9th, […]

We can improve civic literacy by teaching people information they should, but don’t, know. But this will only get us so far. To make lasting changes we need to understand the relationship among many factors, including what makes people think and act as they do. Multiple forces, such as culture for groups and personality types for individuals, shape people’s ideas […]

I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating. I teach my law and public policy classes through a constitutional lens–I am convinced that students must understand America’s fundamental legal framework and philosophy if they are to approach policy proposals with the necessary analytic tools. I often introduce the Free Speech provisions of the First Amendment by asking “What did […]

Polls in 1948 indicated Harry Truman had no chance to win the election. He ignored the ominous polls, took off on his whistle-stop tour and won the election anyway. Pollsters and pundits were shocked. Americans today would be wise to follow Truman’s lead and disregard the swarm of polls dominating the media landscape this year. Every major broadcast and cable […]